Allegations about our PM raging across the internet around Australia

For the last three months emails have been burning across Australia with links to Larry Pickering. It’s a mark of the times that the ground breaking investigative research and news is breaking through the blog world, and barely touched in the mainstream media (see here and here as it starts to come out.)

For foreign readers: If the allegations pan out, this could bring down a government and one day may become a case study in the depths of systematic corruption and deceit in Western democracies. It’s a spectacle. If true, it does not get much more sordid than this. To make sense of this you’ll need to know that Julia Gillard is our prime minister and was a lawyer who lived with a top union official called Bruce Wilson in the early 1990′s. AWU means Australian Workers Union.

The GG is compromised on more than one front. Her son-in-law is Bill ‘I agree with anything, even if I don’t know what it is’ Shorten. She is also linked to the Heiner Affair in Qld involving one KRudd.

There is another area under investigation since the Newman LNP government came to office, the several times swept under the carpert Heiner affair, allegations of rape relating to a juvenile detention centre in Queensland in the Goss Labor years when KRudd was his chief of staff, and the covering up ever since until Newman and his attorney general commenced proceedings to get to the bottom of the affair. I believe that we are seeing the tip of an iceberg of scandals that need to be investigated and for our nation to rid itself of corruption within the union movement and Union Labor Party.

Without getting to complex on the issue the GG has no official power as set forth in the Constitution of 1901,for she has no official paperwork appointing her commission thus rendering her as a political appointment,a paperless tiger if you will.

Two of the independents campaigned as former Nationals, conervatives in electorates where Green and Labor receive a small minority of votes, as they again did in 2010. They betrayed their constituents when they chose to support Gillard. However one is a cousin of Labor’s spin doctor Hawker and the other has a record for offering his support to Labor as a state MP, and media have reported that when he won the federal seat of Lyne he was recruited by PM Rudd and was supported by Labor after that. I call it self interest and arrogance.

Makes Frank Hardy’s book “Power Without Glory” seem as though it should be relegated to the children’s section of the library.
Interesting that both the book and the current controversy relate to the Australian Labor Party.
Power Without Glory was written in 1950, so I guess the old is new again.

I know it’s off topic, but if you haven’t read this book, Power Without Glory, then as an Australian, you are really missing something. As Ian Meldrum might say, ‘Do yourself a favour’ and get hold of it.

Oddly, in 1976, the ABC went out on a limb and made a mini series of the book, and in this day and age of short mini series’, this one was 26 one hour episodes, and without doubt was probably the pinnacle of Australian TV. The book was better, but this was close to the book, and even then, it was controversial by its very nature, and left some of the more controversial stuff out. It starred a veritable who’s who of Australian actors and just read this list.

It was repeated once and then Channel 7 purchased the rights, played a few episodes in the middle of the night, a couple more in the prime time 3AM time slot, and then unfinished, they then buried it, more’s the pity.

As to the book, Frank Hardy did his homework, and it was so close to real life, hence all the problems he had getting it published, and then he had to endure the resultant court cases over the book.

Only one Australian book is its equal, (in my opinion anyway) Xavier Herbert’s Poor Fellow My Country.

Hardy was close to the truth but he stretched it or ignored it to extract a personal vengeance My grandfather was for some early years,one of John Wren’s “nitkeepers”,those who kept a watch out for police in the bad old SP bookie Saturdays of inner suburban Melbourne.John Wren was not all that Hardy painted him, as when in middle age, my grandie contracted cancer of the stomach, Wren heard about it and set about seeing the whole family ate and kept warm the whole time my Pa was receiving treatment from an English specialist who performed close to the first successful operation to remove a stomach tumour in Australia. The family NEVER received one bill, so our family does not think ill of John Wren.In looking after his mates, he was a true Aussie. Alongside many union officials,and the commercial counterparts who conspire to flout taxes etc, with them,he was a giant of a saint I’d say.

Tony- I think you meant Xavier Herbert’s “Capricornia”. Frank Hardy was a great storyteller but never learned how to finish a book. They all just sort of dry up towards the end. “Outcasts of Foolgarah” is a better read than “power Without Glory”, but anyone who hasn’t read either should do themselves a favour and read one or the other.

You may not like him, but Patrick White’s “Tree of Man” beats everything else ever written in the australian language. (IMHO)

MadJak, the GG is Bill Shorten’s mother-in-law. Pickering maintains that Bill is up to his eyeballs in it, along with the Attorney General. Does that answer your question? As to the statutory declaration made by Robert Kernohan at least a year ago, Gillarse had Glen Milne and Michael Smith fired over this, by threatening both news chains. If the stat dec were false, don’t you think she would have prosecuted instead? This well and truly has the potential to be an Australian Watergate.

To clarify the point,it is in fact the Queens Government,it was created or better still incorporated by the Constitution which in actual fact is a contract,that’s right a commercial contract to which the Crown is perpetually the CEO and paid about 20 million annually.Under the Constitution the reigning British monarch is also the Australian monarch and remains our head of state,above all other levels of government.The Monarch alone can appoint a GG who can exercise the Monarch’s powers in her absence,however as i explained earlier the GG IS A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT and as a result has no real Constitutional power,she is for want of a better word BLING.The Queen is not required to be separate from the Constitution she is the Constitution and as above Her Majesty owns the government and as far as legal issues go i can say this legality is created by men and in particular the ones that we elect to parliament.In the consideration of legal one must first focus on what is lawful, they are not the same.The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 is the SUPREME LAW of the land,within this document is the blueprint for how a government elected by free men and women must conduct themselves and the order of business in looking after OUR country.

For many very good reasons relating to diplomatic relations, trade, defence and more. The Queen does not have the power to dismiss an Australian government without a request from the Governor General (our head of state when the Queen is not here) supported by legal advice as to why the request was made. Australia is a sovereign nation, we have our own High Court and no appeals possible to the UK as used to be the case decades ago. The calls for a republic ignore that for all intents and purposes we are self governed.

Well Watergate was driven by the Media… I think Nixon and the WG scandal appeared as front page news for over 70 days straight in one leading newspaper… Imagine if Julia Gillard’s scandal was front page news in “The Australian” for over two months, day in and day out?…. She’d have been dumped, Thompson would be toast, the Union would be losing members by the truck load… We’d probably have had new elections by now with Abbott calling for a royal commission, etc.

but instead, according to Gillard’s biography “The Making of Julia Gillard”, when defending her “young and naive” self after an interview with Glen Milne back in 2007, all the giants of the Canberra News Gallery called her on the phone and expressed their disbelief and promised her that it would go nowhere.

… But Jules and Willo…? Nah.

The media is only looking for Tony Abbott scandals in this country…… God! Could you imagine the scandal there’d be if Tony Abbott had set up a Catholic Church fund for a couple of his “Priest mates” which then defrauded the church members of a million bucks???….. The Press Gallery would be on it like a pack of hyenas on a Gazelle with a broken leg.

To be fair, Shane Dowling at Kangaroo Court of Australia began all the renewed interest on 7th August 2011 in an article titled “Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s criminal history and her hypocrisy with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.” He has published several more posts on it since and continues to follow the story as does Michael Smith formerly of 2UE who lost his job after asking PM Gillard to answer several pertinent questions.

Andy. The Bob Kernohan Statutory Declaration dated 11/08/10 is in the kangaroo Court article titled “The Michael Smith 2ue emails to Julia Gillard and the Bob Kernohan Statutory Declaration”. In part II of his story, Pickering has a link to the full 1995 affidavit of Ian Cambridge, former National Secretary of the AWU who it seems found many of the unauthorised bank accounts detailing the apparent misappropriation of AWU funds. Former Qld AWU secretary and National President Bill Ludwig also swore an affdavit in the same matter. As I’ve posted before, much of the information is already on public record which makes it even more disgraceful that the MSM, ABC etc., have either shoved their heads in the sand or provided a graphic emulation of the Three Wise Monkeys. (apologies to real monkeys)!

Hi Andy. I can understand your uneasy feeling but I know from personal experience, having the truth and documents to back you up is a great shield against any lawyer threatening to sue. If this matter is fully investigated the ramifications will spread widely throughout the Unions, the ALP, former and current State and Federal governments and politicans/leaders plus certain legal firms.

This letter documented in Hansard Victoria perhaps best sums up the the feelings of those potentially in the firng line.

AWU: funds
Mr SMITH (Glen Waverley) — I refer to a letter addressed to the joint national secretary of the AWU, Steve Harrison, which states:

——————————————————————————–
Page 1138

“Dear Steve,
Further to our telephone discussion this morning, I propose the following resolution to be put to national executive next month.

As we have discussed, you know as well as I do that if Cambridge is not stopped we are all history. I have spoken to Bill Kelty and Jennie George, and they are supportive of this course of action. Both you and I can work the phones before the national executive meeting to make sure we have the numbers before this motion is put. I have already spoken to a number of national executive and they are very nervous to say the least. Please ring when you have considered my proposal.”

It goes on to a preamble:

“1. That on 23 January 1996, joint national secretary Ian Cambridge wrote to the federal minister … calling for the establishment of a royal commission or judicial inquiry …

It further states that Cambridge wrote that letter without approval of senior officers, and the motion is that:

3. This national executive determines that the membership is entitled to have this matter dealt with expeditiously. Consequently, national executive requests the ACTU to appoint an independent person …
(a) the … allegations raised by I. Cambridge
(b) to investigate all allegations relating to any branch, activity …
(c) to investigate any matters … ”

By the way, there was neither a judicial inquiry nor a royal commission. Cambridge was appointed to the New South Wales Industrial Relations Court. I call for a full, open judicial inquiry. The other addressees on the letter were Bill Shorten, Terry Muscat, Graham Ray and Frank Leo.

For an update, go to the 2GB site for a podcast of the Alan Jones interview with Michael Smith yesterday. Interestingly in light of today’s headlines in the “Australian”, Michael called on Gillard’s former law firm Slater and Gordon to publicly reveal exactly who was representing who in the AWU/Wilson matters.

I transcribed the previous Alan Jones interview with Mike Smith on July 20 and it is on the quadrant.org.au website. I have just transcribed last Friday’s (August 10) new interview of Smith by Jones and it will probably be up on the Quadrant website shortly, I hope today or tomorrow. (sun). Smith puts his finger on some new issues.

For the further edification of overseas readers they should be aware of Craig Thompson. Mr. Thompson is an ex union official who is now a Labor member of parliament. He has been accused of using union funds for personal reasons including prostitutes and campaigning for his current seat. Two official enquiries have found he has a case to answer but he is being protected by the Labor movement including the PM. His vote is crutial to her continued governing. If he goes so does she. There is also speculation that some of the 23 Labor Senators and 28 Labor members of the house of Reps, all of whom are ex union bosses, might have more in common with Craig T than membership of the party. That is why they are trying to make sure these investigations go extremely slowly if at all. It is interesting that Larry Pickering in a previous article dared Gillard and her old law firm to sue him. He reckoned that the discovery phase would be very damaging for the ALP. Chris Smith, the radio journalist who was sacked for trying to run the story, has interviewed some of the key players and now at least one, Ralph Blewitt, is seeking immunity to tell all he knows. AS Chris says ” It wasn’t Watergate that brought Nixon down, it was the cover-up.” This saga is full of cover-ups and there are many potential players and one must assume some will break ranks to try and protect themselves. Bit like the AGW scientists. There is also the spectre of an Abbott led government launching a Royal Commission into the conduct of the trade union movement. Standover and extortion are tools of the trade all of which add to development costs and reduce productivity. The more fundamental problem is the misuse of funds derived from the rank and file, most of whom will never enjoy the lavish lifestyle of their union leaders. For Craig Thompson as the leader of a union of the poorest paid workers in our economy to treat himself to fine dining and female favours on the members tab is obscene in more ways than one. To have the PM constantly defend him saying he deserves the presumption of innocence is particularly galling. She was the leader of the braying pack demanding the sacking of Dr. Peter Hollingsworth, the newly appointed Governor General, when he was charged with no crime then or since. His “crime” was that he had been an Archbishop in the Anglican Church. Hypocricy runs deep in the Australian Labor Party.

Also for the overseas reader- run Lawrie’s exoneration of Hollingworth through the bullshit filter. Ask yourselves – senior churchman, paedophilia lower down, cover-ups- was Hollingworth’s transgression really only that he was an archbishop?

(There is also the minor vanity of demanding he be called “Doctor” Hollingworth on the basis of an honorary degree from a UK theology school. You don’t sack someone just for being a pompous ass, but it isn’t an elected position, so a bit of decorum might be expected.)

Between this and the re-ignition of the Heiner affair (a cover up of pack-rape in a government child protection institution, we will soon need to build a special prison for prominent Australians. Won’t happen though- expect another cover-up as the evidence emerges- it saves the expense.

Hollingsworth was on the board of a church school at which a teacher was accused of wrongdoing, Hollingsworth was not a member executive management, he was a non-executive director. The beat up by Labor against him was as hypocritical as their claims that a brother of John Howard owned a company that received government assistance for employees, Stan Howard was a non-executive director of that company. Labor is very good at spin.

If it all hits the fan, do you have problem in Aussie politics?
If Gillard and co get legally hammered with this and an early election is held where do all the “rusted on” left wing votes go –to the Greens or if the ALP cleans itself out will the rusted on stay put?? Maybe a new left wing party needs to be formed very quickly , to avoid the Greens getting bigger foot hold in Australia ( I know if the above scenario pans out they will be in Opposition )

It has happened over the past 15 years since Howard took over leadership and Hewson and Fraser were a distant memory from the Labor party. Whether it be Abbott or Howard, the Liberal party has moved to the right. You also have the Labor Party who have in many respects moved to the right on social issues such as gay marriage or even Asylum seekers. If you compare the Labor party’s position 10 years ago to now on the Asylum seeker issue. It has certainly changed a fair bit.

This movement to the right also explains why the Greens have gained such a large supporter base and how in inner city seats such as Melbourne, Labor support has declined dramatically. Even on issues such as Aboriginals, Labor has certainly changed their position on these issues.

It depends somewhat on your definition of left and right.
If we remember they are actually socialist terms. . . then you are correct.
Totalatarism is a feature of right wing socialism.
Or as Orwell put it.
‘Some are more equal than others’

Communism, where the government permeates everything, lends itself to totalitarianism. Examples of the latter would be moves by the Gillard Government. An example of that would be moves to censor the media and curb free speech.

Totalitarian communism: The prevaliant (perhaps only) form of “communist” ideology practiced in the 20th century. The state in these societies “represented” workers interests (health, education, sports, etc — were the best in the world for the broadest majority of people), but workers didn’t control or have power over the state.

Twodogs
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The perception that Communism is an ideology to protect the common man is a fallacy.
It is and always was nothing more than a brutal extortion racket. It was born that way in 1917 with the mass murder of thousands, extending to the murder of millions under Stalin.

The Spectator Australia reported a while back on a visit to Germany by Peter Costello who during his visit met Green and former German foreign affairs minister Joschka Fischer. Costello reported that his robust defence of the West was music to his ears and unlike anything he had heard an Australian Green say. Costello asked him his opinion of the Australian Greens, he said that he cannot repeat his reply but it made him realise that our indigenous Greens are not only extreme by Australian standards. They are at the outer reaches of international Greenism as well.

Anyone looking for an articulate and concise summary of the main factors involved, listen to the podcast of Michael Smith the man whose sacking Julia Gillard caused for pursuing this matter. A transcript of his previous interview by Alan Jones is also available at:

Smith: I tell you what, Alan. Young and naïve? Righto. You’ve got Bruce Wilson, who at present is flipping hamburgers at a kitchen up the coast here. [Who] was young and naïve? The other person involved has been able to manoeuvre herself into the position of Prime Minister of the country. I wonder who was the more naïve?

And then the 4th member of this illicit association has recently been appointed by Gillard as a Federal Court judge.
That separation of powers is looking slightly more proximal.

Frank Of Beecroft
This may interest Sydney NSW readers.
An event that reveals the sordid details behind the allegations surrounding Julia Gillard, Bruce Wilson, and Ralph Blewitt – and how the government tried to stifle free speech and suppress this story.

Late last year, Michael Smith, the host of Radio 2UE’s afternoon show, was set to go on air with an explosive story. He had the detailed facts behind allegations of Julia Gillard’s involvement in corrupt activities by her then partner Bruce Wilson and his accomplice Ralph Blewitt. Activities that make Craig Thompson look like a saint in comparison.

It was cleared by lawyers, by producers. The facts were all confirmed.

10 minutes before he was to go to air, the story was pulled and Michael Smith lost his job.

That very day, The Australian newspaper reported similar allegations. Julia Gillard herself phoned News Limited CEO John Hartigan, and demanded that the story was retracted, and that “News Ltd give her an undertaking that it would never again report in any way on websites or in its newspapers on this matter.” Senior Journalist Glen Milne was sacked, and Andrew Bolt ordered to never speak of this again.
The story was buried.

But the truth can’t stay buried forever. Free Speech can’t be suppressed. Two weeks ago, Mike Smith had an interview with Alan Jones and spelled out in great detail not only what he learned – but the attempts by the government to silence it. A few days later Ralph Blewitt came forward and said he’d be willing to testify in a court of law – if granted immunity.

THIS IS THE STORY THE GOVERNMENT TRIED TO KILL.

THIS IS A STORY THAT ALL AUSTRALIANS MUST KNOW.

That’s why the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance has just arranged for Mike Smith to make a special address in Sydney detailing in full the truth behind this case – and the shameful attempts by the government to stifle any reporting on it.

This is our chance to hear from Michael Smith himself – and learn all the facts.

Frank, this is an event no Australian can afford to miss.

If you are in Sydney, or able to make it to Sydney on Monday the 20th, I hope you will be able to join Michael Smith for this very special event.

Fascinating. But anything that saw Glen Milne get sacked was a good thing.

Anything?? I think you actually mean that and that is what is really ‘Fascinating’ (and disturbing). Never mind the fraud associated with your favoured side of politics; never mind perverting the course of justice; never mind attempts to quash free speech and threaten and persecute those that try to expose what is going on and bring the offenders to justice. The important thing is that the Left prevails by whatever means and look out anyone who tries to stop that happening.

I think here more than anywhere, you eloquently tell us your colours, your character and the worth of your opinions. Now you might say that I would say that, but I recall defending you in the past, when I saw injustice happening. I don’t need to like you to do that.

As a 12 year old living in Canberra during the Whitlam government’s catastrophic implosion in the year leading up to national hero Sir John Kerr’s decisive action, I well remember the pivotal role Pickering’s cartoons in the National Times played in skewering the government with wit and pithy commentary. It looks as though Larry is looking to add another notch to the holster. More power to him, because entrenched corruption in both sides and in all tiers of government needs to be placed under the starkest of spotlights, and justice needs to be meted out with alacrity and impunity. Larry once trained a Melbourne Cup runner up, its name- “Rising Fear”. How appropriate for our soon to be erstwhile Prime Minister!

Yes indeed cringeworthy, but highly entertaining it was just the same. Nonetheless, Sir John Kerr honourably and courageously saved us from a diabolical situation (Khemlani loan affair just to name one of Whitlam’s litany of disastrous decisions that threatened to send Oz into banana republic status- a government drunk on its sudden power and too ignorant and incompetent to recognise its limitations and the limits of its mandate) and did the only right and proper thing to do in a democracy- restore power to the people, hold a general election and allow them to redress the situation. One inebriated performance on the public stage does not counteract the most important political judgement in Australia’s history, a judgement he got absolutely right, in the opinion of most non-partisan observers. And for that -yes, he is a national hero. I suppose though the thought of someone allowing the general public having a say in who governs them doesn’t sit well with you, eh John. Were that a Liberal P.M acting in this fashion, you would be praising him, such is your blinkered view. I believe any politician who steps beyond his or her mandate, no matter of what political persuasion, should be out on his or her can at the first opportunity that legality allows. Politicians SERVE their people, they are our REPRESENTATIVES, not our masters. If they don’t like it, they can piss off!

Sir John Kerr was treated to a Labor Rat hounding by Labor yet he gave Whitlam the opportunity to remain prime minister if he agreed to call an election within months. He advised Whitlam that should he decline that the leader of the opposition would be asked to form a caretaker government and call an election. Kerr was very unfairly treated. Clearly, Whitlam Labor had attempted the break the law of that time, that any overseas borrowing had to be cleared by the Loans Council consisting of federal and state government appointees. Instead Whitlam and Connor held secret meetings with an Arab money lender plotting to borrow $billions without seeking permission to do so. The plot was exposed, the Age Tapes evidence was made public. Another example of “whatever it takes” Labor style, and how they take revenge on people who cross them, smearing and worse. No wonder Kerr was depressed and driven to drink too much. His actions were based on Australian law and legal advice he obtained. In other words he had to act.

In 1978 I flew from Tehran to Mascot in the seat behind Sir John. The hostie said as we were on taxi, “Ladies and gentlemen, would you please pay attention to the following demonstration.”
The voice in front said “Not another bloody demonstration.”
The man was human, was not dumb, was enjoyable company, but showed some aspects that should not have showed. So do I. So what? So does Pickering. So what?

Ok. I’ve been following this story for a few months now. Shane Dowling, who publishes Kangaroo Court, pulls no punches (could be thought by some to be a mite “immoderate” – but has never yet to my knowledge been slapped with a writ over this particular. Why?

Makes you wonder whether what he says is absolutely true and they’re hoping it will just expire over time from lack of oxygen.

Hi Level Gaze. I touched on some reasons why Shane hasn’t been “slapped with a writ” in a comment@ 8.1.1.1. He also seems to research matters very thoroughly but in a law case there is also a wonderful procedure required called “discovery”. Even without further evidence ,there are so many damaging documents already on public record which would have such potentially damaging repercussions on so many people, IMHO Shane is fairly safe from atack on that front!

I agree with everything you say Keith. Shane’s been at this for some time, untouched. They must be terrified of him.
How could it have come to this?
Much the same thing’s happening all over the world, criminals running the show. Thank god I’m old.

THE most powerful union in Australia, the Australian Workers Union, is being asked by its former law firm Slater & Gordon for permission to lift a legal lid on highly sensitive files on a union funds scandal that subsequently embroiled Julia Gillard.…continues

The most interesting aspect of this story for me is the connection with Cameron who, in July 2011, wrote a letter to Gillard praising her introduction of the carbon tax.

In the UK, as in Australia, the people making money out of carbon trading and renewables are the energy corporations like Shell, also the renewables companies and the banks like GS whose CEO in Australia was Turnbull. In the UK, renewables are part of property so are controlled by our Mafia who paid for Fabian Brown to get power and organise the subsidies. Rudd was closely associated with the Fabian/EU plan and Gillard took over.

The EU is Fabian controlled, in effect the link between communism and totalitarianism. You also have to remember that Murdoch is heavily into renewables and carbon trading, as is Soros for example. This is a big project and if Australia’s crooks fail to get power, it’s the end game in the UK as well.

For our American friends, as an analogy to the Gillard situation, imagine the Watergate Affair, only on this occasion Woodward has lost his job for attempting to float the story after Nixon pressured the Washington Post to hang him out to dry, Bernstein has been seconded into critiquing restaurants instead of Capitol Hill, John Dean was blowing the whistle because he was actually an open backer of Spiro Agnew as an alternative President and had been tipped out of congress by Nixon as pay back, and Nixon claiming innocence on the basis that he was young and naive and that he shouldn’t have to worry his pretty little head about such details. Meanwhile the New York Times and othe print and Television media falling over themselves not to report it! Not a perfect analogy, but I quite like the comparison, as it shows what a different world we live in compared with the 70′s, notwithstanding the differences between the US and Oz.

Just for a laugh I knocked this up in an hour after a couple of wines, so here goes……..

In some whimsical and fanciful alternate reality where politicians succumb to their true calling, ie. acting, such an entertainment event could conceivably be planned, where present day Australian politics and past U.S political history collide –

From the team who brought you last season’s smash hit play, “The Tragedy of Julia Caesar”, comes an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza for a strictly limited season…….

“Watergate- The Musical”

Acclaimed actress Julia Gillard, in a Tony nominated performance, stars as Richard Nixon, the President desperate to save his political skin by fair means or foul, and finds the leaking dike has so many holes that he is fast running out of fingers.

Bruce Wilson plays the ruthless mastermind behind the break-in, G. Gordon Liddy, who gives legal niceties a wide berth in his quest for money, power and influence.

Michael Williamson as James McCord, and Craig Thomson as E. Howard Hunt, are the principle perpetrators in the break-in, whose nefarious activities threaten to bring down a head of state!

Well she is “acclaimed” (not necessarily positively) and she is definitely an actress- “the woman of a thousand faces” in fact (ie. who the heck is the “Real Julia”- is it Trotsky, Lenin, Marx, Stalin….?). I thought the “leaking dike” reference conjured up more images for me.

If Nixon had behaved like Gillard, he would of set up a kangaroo commission in alliance with an American Neo-Nazi leader to look into ways the state can suppress the “hate media.” Said commission would return the recommendation to suspend the First Amendment and impose fines and jail time to editors and reporters who fail to adhere to state imposed standards of “decency.”

The proposal to stifle free expression would be greeted by The Grey Lady and Washington Post with somewhat muffled cheers of approval.

Flash forward to August 2012…

President Obama has by proxy begun to lay the theoretical ground work for the suspension of Habeas corpus in the USA.

EDITORIAL: The Civil War of 2016
U.S. military officers are told to plan to fight Americans

“…what’s with the Left? Why have they seemingly lost their minds?”
If you research Agenda 21, you will probably conclude, as I have, that folks will eventually strenuously object to the totalitarian tyranny. For that reason, it is important to make as many as possible subservient to the state while removing pinnacles supporting individual liberty. If I am correct, this explains the panic attack on freedom of speech, as without the freedom to speak all of the other freedoms we enjoy (paid for in blood during several wars) are indefensible. However, at the same time, other important support columns of liberty, such as Habeus Corpus, get in the way of controlling the masses during a revolution. In Australia, for instance, ASIO says it is necessary to evesdrop on every conversation. The NBN is necessary so that communication over the pesky Internet can be controlled by the state as it is in totalitarian regimes. Hence the special purpose military vehicles recently delivered to regional police forces. If you would like to see the “changes” wrought in the USA by this rampant quest for change three years ago, go to http://capoliticalnews.com/2012/04/26/after-two-years-of-obama-has-tanked-our-economy-heres-your-change/

I thought I was going over the top by calling GreenLabor a criminal gang, which had me almost being a little more generous, but, it appears I was on the correct track all along. I thought it might be good to volunteer a group to clean out the cells in what passes for a Federal Prison. Goodness me, that bloody big black dog seems to be running away!

If a Prime Minister is guilty of any impropriety, no matter when it may have occurred, it deserves full and thorough media scrutiny, not to be swept under the rug because of gender or political persuasion. If Gillard is not guilty of any wrong doing, then lets have a full and frank airing in the public domain. No one in the highest position in the land should expect anything else, yet too often this government in particular seems to think it is above the law, in fact a law unto itself- would you care to defend that, Ross?.

No Ross. The only scandal here, is Julia Gillard’s refusal to answer questions put to her in the public interest by Micheal Smith on 2UE last year…. She could have settled the whole thing then by just recounting the simple truth… But she hasn’t, which means that she doesn’t dare utter the truth.

Julia Gillard has claimed she knew nothing about anything – she was ‘young and naive’ at the time. She has refused to explain why Slater and Gordon dispensed with her services, she has refused to answer specific questions about the setting up of the AWU Welfare Fund, the fund she knows was then used to purchase the property she shared with Wilson.

When faced with clear allegations of impropriety at a number of levels by Craig Thomson she would have stood him down until those allegations were properly investigated. Why didn’t she do that?

Julia Gillard appointed a number of other people involved with this AWU scandal to the position of Attorney General and to positions as Fair Work Australia Governors without acknowledging any potential conflict of interest breaching any number of rules of parliamentary practice.

In face of all the evidence there should be a Royal Commission held into the operation of the AWU and the HSU and any other Unions the Commissioner sees fit after a short period of public consultation.

The Prime Minister, Craig Thompson, Rob McLeLLan, and other members of the house implicated with dirty deals at unions should also stand down until cleared by the investigation.

With the unlikely event of the Government winning a vote of no confidence, the Government should go to the Governor general immediately to ask her to nominate a temporary cabinet until elections can be held.

Any similarities between an Irish Fish and the Australian Premier are purely coincidental. These facts are stated and simply the Australian Public must determin what conclusions may be drawn from this.

Gillaroo (Salmo stomachicus; historically included in Salmo trutta), is the name of a variety of trout which eats primarily snails and is only proven to inhabit Lough Melvin in Ireland.

Gillaroo is derived from the Irish for Red Fellow (Giolla Rua); this is due to the fish’s distinctive colouring. It has a bright, buttery golden colour in its flanks with bright crimson and vermilion patches on its head. The gillaroo is characterised by these deep red spots and a “gizzard”, which is used to aid the digestion of hard food items such as water snails.

Any similarities between a noisey bird and the Australian Premier are purely coincidental and the Australian Public & etc ….

The Gillar or Galah, Eolophus roseicapilla, also known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Galah Cockatoo, Roseate Cockatoo or Pink and Grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.

Its distinctive pink and grey plumage and its bold and loud behaviour make it a familiar sight in the bush and increasingly in urban areas. The term galah is derived from gilaa, a word found in Yuwaalaraay and neighbouring Aboriginal languages. Read the Yuwaalaraay Wuulaa story here to understand the behaviour of our own “Gilaa”.http://www.yuwaalaraay.org/stories/wuulaanotes.html

True, it’s a threat with no teeth, but in light of recent Labor/Green threats to license and censor free speech, one with just enough gum to slime the thread.

As usual, when Leftists speak from their heart it’s always more of exposition of their own, shall we say, cognitive challenges, than a meaningful deliberation on the real world.

Ross’s threat is a classic example of Leftist hypocrisy in motion.

The hypocrisy is, of course, unconscious. Leftists are famous their inflated sense of self-righteousness, which is perhaps due to their lack of self-introspection.

*

Imagine if some “denier” had sent an email to an Australian research institution known for exaggerating the dangers of climate change, warning that the institution should “be very careful” because they are being watched.

Well, we know what would happen…

Months later – timed to coincide with an event of political import – the vice chancellor’s office would contact the “Love Media” …Fairfax and the ABC would coordinate a media campaign headlined:

“CLIMATE SCIENTISTS MOVED TO SECURE LOCATION AFTER DEATH THREATS FROM DENIALIST TERROR FACTION.”

Ross, nothing you say has any intellectual value, but this effort is particularly poor.

Let us start from the beginning …

Be very careful about litigation here fellows. Eyes are on this web site and have been for some time.

Whose eyes Ross? Are you suggesting that there are the bureaucratic equivalent of the “Thought Police” wanting to suppress the freedom of speech? Ah, but I remember your previous efforts on the subject of free speech and how you just did not understand the concept.

That is up to Jo to determine if they are defamatory enough to legally pursue. I notice that you, as usual, do not provide any evidence. But this thread is our the PM, not Jo. Also, Jo has, as usual, been very good at communicating well without overstepping any legal limits.

I strongly suggest you are doing the Climate Skeptics a great disservice by running with this.

We are not a club or society Ross. “Climate Skeptics” do not exist as an organisation. Jo has brought valid political commentary to our attention. We, as individuals, get to choose whether or not we view and/or participate in the discussion or not. That is what free speech is Ross. You know that concept you do not seem to understand.

Stick with Climate Change.

Telling us what to do Ross? I, and I suspect the vast majority of readers of this site, are complex people who have opinions on numerous subjects. If you read the actual by-line for this site, it is broader than just climate change. Just because you choose to have a narrow focus, does not mean the rest of us have to follow.

I do want your web site to continue as this could land this site in deep politicised boiling legal waters.

Well I am glad you want this site to continue Ross, but politics are about opinions, and Jo and the rest of us are expressing ours. It is that free speech thing again Ross that you seem not to be able to grasp.

Our Prime Minister, (any Prime Minister of any political persuasion for that matter) should not be dragged through a cowboy blogger defamation attack like this.

A “cowboy blogger” is someone who posts false information without references or supporting evidence. Neither Larry Pickering or Jo have done this. Everything has been double sourced and referenced and that means it is information with evidence. There is a link higher in the thread about the definition of defamation. Read it carefully Ross. The truth is not defamatory.

It is dreadful and I rue the day when this sort of thing is allowed to cast questionable character aspersions on anyone in any public place.

People in public office (which is what I assumed you meant by “public place” – after all a person walking down the street is in a “public place”) are meant to be held accountable and this is done through public scrutiny of their statements and their actions. Power corrupts Ross, and one of the checks and balances against this corruption is public scrutiny, which is what is occurring here and our PM has been trying to suppress. People of integrity like the truth because it is their ally. It is only the deceitful that what to hide behind the cloak of secrecy.

In case those are not aware: Our defamation laws are of a higher standard then those in the US.

Mate she has thrown aspersions at all of us under Parliamentary priviledge, mocked us and derided us, one and all.

The thing that Pickering is doing is risky as all get out, but he is an icon of Australian freedom of expression, Jo is not responsible for our or his comments.

Ross, sitting back never defends anything, this woman (my fury limits my speech) promised the electorate in clear and no weasel words there would be no carbon tax under a government she leads.

My concern was superannuation funds many of which are union controlled, I saw through this scam from the beginning and the aim was for billions not only tax payers monies thru tax but their super as well.

This woman has serious legal issues in her back ground. As long as we all use the word alleged we are ok.

Larry should not be running this risk alone, I say this fully knowing their tricks, their brutality possibly and the lengths they will go to.

Me I walk in fear everyday of my life not for me but for my children, these bastards will go the family.

Every one use the term allegedly and allegations and then it is up to that woman to defend herself.

I think you’ll find, Ross, that the right here slavishly copies their US counterparts. So just as Bill Clinton was hounded over Monika Lewinsky and Whitewater, the right here need to pursue Julia over something, anything. After all, it just isn’t right to allow someone not cut from the born-to-rule conservative cloth to have the keys to the lodge.

So Left wing corruption is OK, John. Whitewater was an utter disgrace, IMO, while Lewinsky issue on a par with, but not worse than Watergate (which was a relatively trivial affair made worse by egregious coverup). Funny how all of Hollywood celebs like Streisand (I think) etc came out in support of Bill over Lewinsky and turned her into a pariah (the hussy!), stating things like “what is it with all politicians having such huge sex drives?” and other such nonsense- One thing is for sure, if Reagan or Bush had have abused the POTUS position to sexually compromise one of their interns, the press would have hounded either of them out of office. If you attain the highest office in the land, you need to be held to account at a higher level of honour and behaviour than even that expected of the rank and file. “To whom much is given, much is expected”. You are such a hypocrite, John, it is just staggering, really. The issue with Ms. Gillard, if true, is completely incompatible with a person being fit and proper to be Prime Minister of this country, period.

“It is dreadful and I rue the day when this sort of thing is allowed to cast questionable character aspersions on anyone in any public place.”

That’s an odd thing to say, but then Ross is rather odd; is he saying no aspersions can be made against politicians? Many politicians have not only had aspersions laid against them but have had those aspersions proved.

The list is current but the various enquiries into the previous NSW ALP government members should be watched carefully.

With Gillard there are several serious aspersions as detailed by Pickering and others; her response has not been transparent; basically she has issued implausible denials, influenced various media outlets and arguably caused the unemployment of 2 journalists and overseen the Finkelstein enquiry which is nothing more than censorship masquerading as a rather sickening concern for the media’s pernicious influence. The media can only have a pernicious influence when it does NOT report so any attempt to prevent it reporting is itself pernicious.

There are too many defaming comments on this thread. Jo is legally responsible for comments as she is the moderator.

But haven’t you noticed, that so far, all Gillard wants to do – like you and Ross – is have the matter buried? If, she thought it prudent to give the ‘defamation’ the legal treatment, wouldn’t you think she would have done so already? After all, she was a lawyer – before her work as a lawyer was abruptly terminated. If she thought it was wise to just publicly clear the air, shouldn’t she have done so already? Does her ducking for cover sound like someone with nothing to hide?

Gillard has been publicly determined to have been dishonest with her introduction of the Carbon Tax. Don’t you think it might be relevant to receive input from character witnesses?

Be very careful about litigation here fellows. Eyes are on this web site and have been for some time.

How do you know that?

I do want your web site to continue as this could land this site in deep politicised boiling legal waters.

Our Prime Minister, (any Prime Minister of any political persuasion for that matter) should not be dragged through a cowboy blogger defamation attack like this.

A suspicious person might think that the last bit is what you are really worried about and that you would like this matter buried on the Net, just as has been done in most of the MSM.

It is dreadful and I rue the day when this sort of thing is allowed to cast questionable character aspersions on anyone in any public place.

Fairfax and the ABC would certainly agree to that, unless the aspersions are against the Right. Anyway, given the great detail, if it’s fictional Julia should be able to refute it quickly. One would think she would be busting to do that. So let us purchase our popcorn and look forward to having her clear the air.

Problem is, we are getting too few comments to make this project a success. We are only up to 40 now on question #1, for example (about 35 from Australia) and about 80 votes. That leaves only 22,672,236 Australian left to comment

are there any US bloggers and journalists who could start giving these stories some light??

I know it’s hard to interest US readers in the internal politics of other countries, but US laws, in general, make it easier to spotlight wrongdoing since public figures have very little recourse to libel laws in the USA.

Are there any real reporters left?? Michael Smith has already described some of the key features of the case. It is difficult to believe that the AUstralian media and parliament and judiciary are not already all over this.

important radio segment (30 min) which lays it all out:

Alan Jones is joined by Michael Smith to discuss the Prime Minister and the AWU.

Ross James says “Our Prime Minister, (any Prime Minister of any political persuasion for that matter) should not be dragged through a cowboy blogger defamation attack like this.
It is dreadful and I rue the day when this sort of thing is allowed to cast questionable character aspersions on anyone in any public place.”

Gee, it seems I’ve heard that idea expressed before somewhere. Is it a quote from Mohamar Ghadafi perhaps? Or was it Saddam Hussein? Might have been Al-Assad. I wonder, possibly Adolf or Benito?

Without in any way meaning disrespect for those pursuing the 2 affairs for the best reasons, justice, punishment of corruption and abuse of power…isn’t is a bit of a coincidence that these 2 twenty year old affairs have come to the surface again?

The Heiner affair which could damage K. Rudd, a lot of Queensland members backing him (except Wayne Swan who isn’t) and the Governor General he appointed, and the AWU affair which could cause grief to Gillard and a lot of her backers.

Both Julia and Kevin are determined to be boss, and neither is known to “fight clean”. A case of 2 hyenas fighting over a corpse?

A return of the Liberal/National axis will not help you. After all, it was Howard & his cronies that sat astride the biggest credit bubble in history (except for the $ itself), fraudulently inflating the values of all sorts of garbage, particularly mortgage debt, to make you think you were getting rich without having to work for it.

Former Coalition opposition leader, John Hewson, made a comment to PM Paul Keating in Parliament that the NSW right faction of the Labor Party was the closest organisation in Australia to the Italian Mafia. It took Keating some hours to return and answer Hewson.

Morning Jo,
As you’ll probably recall, in 08′ – ’10, a Brisbane Radio Journalist by the name of Michael Smith gave a lot of exposure to your good-self (& Messrs Bolt & McCrann) & in-so-doing probably contributed greatly towards the 1st ETS. Senate defeat (& perhaps also Kevin’s demise).
For that obviously he’s most likely attained a huge amount of interest amongst the ‘mini-Army’ of ALP & Green staffers, whom would have taken great delight when the PM. last year orchestrated his sacking (& silencing).
Thank-you & Larry for maintaing the rage!!
To Paraphrase Gough … “Well may we say God Save The Queen … for nothing will save Queen Ju-Liar”!!
Kind Regards, reformed warmist of Logan

A lot of it seems to centre around the law firm Gordon and Slater.
Where is the Law Council of Australia?
Sound of crickets chirping.

Gordon and Slater are an incorporated body.
Where is the Australian Securities Commission (ASIC)?
Sound of crickets chirping.

Gordon and Slater are a publicly listed company.
Where is the ASX Compliance Board?
Sound of crickets chirping.

It also seems to centre around one or more registered trade unions.
Where is Fair Work Australia?
Sound of crickets chirping.

It also seems to involve fraud and extortion in WA, NSW, VIC and the ACT.
Where are the WA, NSW, Vic and Federal Police?
Sound of crickets chirping.

It also seems to be a matter of National Security and Legal Governance.
Where is our GG?
Sound of crickets chirping.

It also seems to be a matter involving politicians and others in the Labor Party.
Where are the Opposition?
Sound of crickets chirping.

It also seems to be a matter of National Interest.
Where is the MSM and especially our “unbiased” National Broadcaster?
Sound of crickets chirping.

.
I’m sorry, but short of mass resignations of members of the AWU and HSU, followed by mass demonstrations in the streets by those ex-members with mass support from the public at large, I can’t see it getting any traction to go anywhere.

It appears that every one of our legal, political and public institutions charged with protecting us from this very sort of thing, are all involved and compromised in one way or another, including those constitutional protections afforded by the GG’s “Reserve Powers”.

It appears that every one of our legal, political and public institutions charged with protecting us from this very sort of thing, are all involved and compromised in one way or another, including those constitutional protections afforded by the GG’s “Reserve Powers”.

.
Just where do we go from here?

We go to hoping for an uncorrupted election, or at least one that isn’t massively corrupted.

If you had listened to some of the interviews with Alan Jones, the police in the past new about it but more details have clearly the news with the unions over the past year has brought it back to the surface. I believe that it will come out eventually. The media is starting to catch on and I think it will become a more topical discussion in the media. Don’t worry.

Well said Janama,
Unfortunately, very unfortunatley, the smartest political move for the opposition is to say and do nothing.
They don’t need to say or do anything because the ‘gummint’ is doing a masterful job of losing political credibility all by themselves.
That is not necesarily a comforting thought.
Ideally, the opposition should be letting us all know how they propose to ‘fix it’ and how they can do a much better job of governing and implementing social policy.
Not happening any time soon I would imagine….unfortunately the best way to win an election is to convince the ‘swinging voters’ that you are not as ‘bad’ as the other guy…..
That’s rather sad I think.
We get to ultimately choose the grade of ‘bad’ we’re prepared to tolerate?
But…have to admit… that it would be hard to get ‘badder’.
I think the electorate are just about ready to take to the current mob with baseball bats….even though much of what they have attempted has merit….the implementation of even the good stuff has been absolutely and hopelessly appalling….and totally unacceptable. They don’t seem to understand that we are all highly vulnerable to the poor implementation of social policy….even if the intent is good, if they implement it poorly, it will do a great deal of harm.
I would also comment that if you choose to get dirty and play bully/gutter tactics….then you shouldn’t be surprised when it comes back to bite you.
What goes round comes round.
Looks like it’s coming round to the AWU in particular?

Liberals don’t do the down and dirty well. Deception promises, done at the level of all politicians. Unfortunately labor is the skilled party born of years of intrigue in Tammany Hall back room politics (that training ground is in danger of being taken by green zealots) and of course, the really dirty ground of Union politics, where brute force backs threats, dirty deeds are done, scores settled, and “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” deals done.

But labor in power can’t keep control of the corrupt in their ranks, the opportunists who do corruption well when wasting our money and rorting the system or advantaging their mates.

In short the conservative parties need real leaders to stand tall and take notice of excellent strategists to handle the moral exposure of dirty deeds, without p*ssing into the wind and copping the blowback as they often do.

Labor of course has the schoolyard bullies to keep the sheep in line and the lid on the excrement.

.
So, the choice is between a bunch of corrupt thugs or a group of nambies too spooked to say ‘boo’, despite the fact that it would appear ALL of our public institutions, from the GG’s Office down through ASIC, Fair Work, the state and federal police forces, our National Broadcaster, our institutions of higher learning, AND the MSM are party to, or tolerant of, said corruption.

Since we can’t, in all consciousness, vote for the first, and since there doesn’t appear to be much point in voting for the second, we may as well do a George Carlin and stay at home come the next federal election.

Graeme No.3 @ 37 and memory vault @ 41 pose some interesting questions. Examination shows it has in part been very much a power struggle between the various factions in the Unions and Labor Party. Many party members fought long and hard to prevent Julia Gillard entering Parliament. In her appearance on the ABC program, “Australian Story” in 2006, Gillard stated: (Link easily Googled)

“I’d struggled over a long period of time to get pre- selected, I’d run a number of pre-selections, there was lots of carry on in the Labor party as there always is, the nasty side of the culture well and truly on display, so I had ended up being defeated for a number of pre selections. I ultimately managed to secure pre-selection for the 1996 election as number 3 on the Senate ticket, so when Phil Gude raised these allegations in state parliament, my recollection is that was in and around the time of the pre-selections. Even at that stage I didn’t know for sure that you know, Labor party people had urged Phil Gude to do this, but it became apparent to me afterwards when one of his staff members basically indicated to me that that was the case, so it was just you know another thing that happened in what had been an on going set of very unpleasant battles and experiences within Labor about getting pre selected, so in some senses I guess I wasn’t surprised. It make you angry and all of that but it certainly doesn’t shock you when you have been around Labor politics for a while.”

From my research, there would be few of any consequence in the Party who were not aware of the personal “baggage” of the Wilson AWU fraud affair that she carried and some feared that knowledge could be used by their factional enemies to manipulate her in the future. Consequently, in almost all cases when this matter has re-surfaced, it has done so as a result of either a Union or Labor Party source.

The most notable instances are Ian Cambridge, who was the first Union official to call for a Royal Commission into his own union:

Former AWU Officer Bob Kernohan, who has battled tirelessly and endured all sorts of harassment endeavouring to get justice for his members: (Michael Smith of 2UE raised this and lost his job for the privilege of doing so!):

And the latest, Federal Labor MP and former Attorney-General under Gillard, Robert McLelland.

It’s important to note that police cannot act on any alleged crime unless the victim is prepared to make a statement. The mass cover-up by those who know the facts is obvious. This should not be allowed to continue and I’d love to see a suggestion inherent in memory vault’s (@ 41) comments come about:

“mass resignations of members of the AWU and HSU, followed by mass demonstrations in the streets by those ex-members with mass support from the public at large”

.
While I agree entirely with the thrust of your comment KeithH, this little furphy needs to be addressed:

It’s important to note that police cannot act on any alleged crime unless the victim is prepared to make a statement.

This is the charade that the various police forces are now hiding behind to try and cover their total inaction over the past seventeen years. The facts of the matter are:

1) – There now CANNOT be any prosecutions in the AWU-Wilson-Gillard affair. It all happened seventeen years ago and the Statute of Limitations now well and truly covers the matter.

2) – Back when the alleged crimes were committed there were PLENTY of statements made that conferred on the police in at least two states the authority to proceed. THEY NEVER DID.

.
The most interesting facet of all this is the Liberal Party’s inaction.

Tony Abbott can bring this charade to an end tomorrow simply by announcing that, when elected, the Coalition will immediately establish a Royal Commission to investigate the corrupt misappropriation of Trade Union members’ funds, with the power to establish a mechanism whereby rank and file members and ex-members can recover said misappropriated funds,

AND

that said Royal Commission will have the power to investigate and recommend for criminal prosecution ANY past or present state or federal public servant who by their actions, or inactions, or derelictions, aided and abetted said corrupt misappropriation of funds.

That would would create an avalanche of public servants and ex-public servants – including police, people who are/were employed by Fair Work, and its predecessor, the Industrial Commission, ASIC, possibly the ABC, and maybe even the Tax Office, all falling over themselves to give evidence to protect their backsides.

.
That Tony Abbott hasn’t, and won’t, announce any such thing, is perhaps the most telling indictment of all in this sad little saga. For it tends to indicate that the foul stench of this disgusting corruption extends well beyond the Labor Party and the Trade Union Movement.

Abbott does not need to get involved. When this really gets some steam, all that will matter to Abbott is that Gillard is gone because her name is tainted.

It might be that Abbott is happy to have a walking-dead person (metaphorically, OK!!) leading Labor and doesn’t want to upset that situation. Or perhaps he is waiting for this to gain more momentum before making a move.

.
So, we have a PM up to her eyeballs in a scandal of (alleged) fraud and corruption, at least two other Senior Cabinet Ministers under a cloud of suspicion, the appointment of at least one Fair Work Commissioner and at least one Federal Court Judge tainted with the same (alleged) corruption, clear evidence of at the very least gross dereliction of duty by a succession of senior management at the IRC, ASIC, the ATO, and other regulatory bodies, similar dereliction by a succession of Police Commissioners and Superintendents in at least three states, and a complete abandonment of its charter by the ABC.

And consensus of opinion here is now is a good time for the Leader of the Opposition and his party to lay low, do nothing, and make political mileage out of it all IF or when the excrement finally reaches the fan.

To paraphrase de Maistre:

“Every country gets the government it deserves.”[Bold bits added. Mod oggi]

Abbott could announce such a Royal Commission tomorrow in, or out, of Parliament, without risking anything, let alone legal action.

You are simply running defence, as you have done through this entire thread, trying to excuse Abbott and the Coalition from taking any action at all in this matter.

You want all the heavy – and risky – lifting left up to a retired cartoonist and a fired radio announcer, and if and when they are successful and Abbott and the Liberals jump in to belatedly claim the credit, you will be the first here singing their praises.

So, we have a PM up to her eyeballs in a scandal of (alleged) fraud and corruption, at least two other Senior Cabinet Ministers under a cloud of suspicion, the appointment of at least one Fair Work Commissioner and at least one Federal Court Judge tainted with the same (alleged) corruption, clear evidence of at the very least gross dereliction of duty by a succession of senior management at the IRC, ASIC, the ATO, and other regulatory bodies, similar dereliction by a succession of Police Commissioners and Superintendents in at least three states, and a complete abandonment of its charter by the ABC.

And consensus of opinion here is now is a good time for the Leader of the Opposition and his party to lay low, do nothing, and make political mileage out of it all IF or when the excrement finally reaches the fan.

To paraphrase de Maistre:

“Every country gets the government it deserves.”

Memoryvault,

I quoted all of your post because I think it deserved it. There is just one bit that I disagree with. With me, at least, there is no consensus that Abbott should do nothing. I was only submitting possibilities of what might be going through his head. We just don’t know. But the sheer extent of the cancer, that you so well diagnosed, could make it quite difficult to operate on immediately.

I spoke with my local Liberal member a couple of weeks ago. I raised similar question asking why Abbott isn’t jumping up and down over Labor’s attempts to censor the media. She said, “There are just so many issues”. She also assured me that he would be dealing with that closer to the election.

With so many issues and a Coalition-hostile media that is assisting Labor in painting Abbott as Mr. Negative, Labor gets to recast its dismal governmental failures as Abbott’s character failures. The worse Labor performs, the worse Abbott looks. It’s bizarre but it is working, but probably not well enough to remove Abbott and definitely not well enough to save the Labor party. They will need to find something more slimy than that. Given that they are the most incompetent, corrupt, dishonest and arrogant Government in Australia’s history, one can almost expect that they will.

Abbott could announce such a Royal Commission tomorrow in, or out, of Parliament, without risking anything, let alone legal action.

You are simply running defence, as you have done through this entire thread, trying to excuse Abbott and the Coalition from taking any action at all in this matter.

You want all the heavy – and risky – lifting left up to a retired cartoonist and a fired radio announcer, and if and when they are successful and Abbott and the Liberals jump in to belatedly claim the credit, you will be the first here singing their praises.

.
And you have the nerve to accuse the climate cultists of hypocrisy.

The Coalition are not apart of the court system nor the police. You seem to want to ignore this fact. There are bigger fish to fry than unionists misappropriating funds. Once more people find about this, less people will put money into unions so it will ultimately not be such a big issue. The press have gradually started to pick up on this and may I remind people that even though it doesn’t look good for Gillard, she is not guilty of it yet so to go all guns blazing into this is not smart.

I don’t really understand your final comment ans why you have said that but it seems that you do not like people challenging your opinion because I am one of the very few people who does so on here. Don’t be so precious.

Like you mv, I agree with the thrust of your comment and I particularly like some of the terms of reference you outline for a proposed Royal Commission. However in fairness, police and crime Authorities did carry out investigations in several states which is why I would include additional terms of reference for any RC to investigate as to why they never proceeded to prosecution, what pressures were brought to bear and by whom to prevent that. I also agree with Juliar @ 47.1 that Abbott does not need to do anything at this stage.

I hope the push for a Royal Commission comes from ordinary decent Union members tired of having their funds ripped off by dishonest officers, many of whom seem only to use the union as a stepping stone to a lucrative parliamentary career. That will be the time for Abbott to move to include that in his platform.

Michael Smith has the CV, the skills and the will to thoroughly investigate this on an evidentiary basis and the pressure caused by that is already producing results. Personally I don’t agree with the approach taken by Pickering and some of the comments on his site are quite frankly disgusting amd IMO not at all helpful. Hopefully it will all continue to gain momentum from the efforts of Smith and others but as you intimate, politics is a very dirty business which is why many average Australians are totally frustrated and fed up to the teeth with politicians of all persuasions!

Memoryvault, it all depends on what charges could be laid. If there is a charge of fraud for instance, laid against Bruce Wilson, there is no statute of limitations. Fraud is criminal law; not a misdemeanor. http://www.aussielegal.com.au/forum/forum_posts~TID~5405.htm
I don’t know whether Gillard could be charged with a criminal offence. Michael Smith talks about the fact that she set up these accounts while referring to a particular piece of legislation, which specifically disallows the action she was taking. Then again Blewitt won’t sing until he has immunity. It would seem that the AFP were on the verge of charging Blewitt and Wilson back in the 90′s. I expect it depends very much on how much people like Ludwig, Shorten, and Roxon were involved, as to whether anything would stick. However, if serious crime can be proved, the Statute of Limitations does not apply in Victoria.

Besides, he’s not going to actually go ahead with his alternative to the Carbon Tax, is he?

One hopes not, but he needs to announce that sooner than later. Gillard can’t kill the Carbon Tax and Rudd would have difficulty. But for someone else taking over the leadership it would be a good move. Then it would be Abbott left holding the ‘carbon’ bag and looking silly.

Abbott has the perfect excuse to back-flip. The Gillard government has said threatened that it will be impossible (very difficult) to remove the tax. Abbott could announce initially spending the money, that was planned for CO2 mitigation, on dismantling Gillard’s tax.

After reading Larry Pickering’s stuff he claims to have on Gillard, et al, my criticism is that it distracts attention away from the main game, which is to defeat the policies of the Labor/Green coalition on their own merits as regressive and destructive to Australian national interest.

The allegations might or might not be true. But why should we care at this late date either way?

If Gillard was a powerful prime minister with healthy poll numbers, the allegations might be useful rhetoric. But that’s not the situation. Gillard is a zombie walking. The question is not if she going to fall over, but when, who’s going to push her and how the circumstances of her fall will be perceived by the public.

But most important of all… to focus on the politics of personal destruction is to orphan grave philosophical arguments about economics, environment, sovereignty and future progress.

I can imagine Labor and Green political strategists developing a “ditch the witch” narrative going forward, which scapegoats Gillard as ALL that is wrong with the Labor/Green government.

The emerging meme might be to concede that Gillard is a bad apple, but don’t toss out the whole barrel. Replace Gillard, add a few more government regulations to control the corrupt unions and the labour market as well, (Leftists’ solution to everything is more state control, so they’ll snarf at the trough on that idea.) And Bob’s your uncle!

With a new leader Labor will waltz into the next election with the same largely unchallenged list of failed policies and lose, of course. But that’s not the end game.

Labor’s goal is no longer to save Gillard’s coalition government, but to strategically sacrifice it in a way that salvages Labor/Green core policy and values, cementing them into the polity fabric of our nation where they can be revitalised and built upon later, after the coming Labor/Green stint in the political wilderness.

The opposition’s end game is no longer to see off Gillard at the next election, but to dramatically change the policy direction of the nation…to by trunk and root dig out Labor/Green policy morbidity and restore our polity to health.

If the emerging scapegoat narrative is that this government fell because Gillard is corrupt — rather than a through a democratic mandate to totally dismantle Labor/Green policy — then Australia loses, even if the Lib/Nat coalition wins the next election.

And that’s exactly how the ABC will spin the national disaster of Gillard’s governance. Bad, bad Julia Gillard, she had righteous lefty policies, but she blew it!

Larry Pickering, by doing Labor’s dirty work for it, presents the Left with the most precious gift of all — The demolition of the Gillard zombie government by opposition zealots. It’s like lending a helping hand… taking out the rubbish the Left needs to have removed before it has any hope of political daylight. And because it’s being done through the politics of personal destruction, the Left can label the helpful numbskulls in the opposition as petty, vile and unfair, while secretly barracking us on as we roll out their wheelie bins to the curb for them.

As a mega-bonus to the Left, Pickering’s focus on personally destroying Gillard rather than going after Leftist policies of class warfare, authoritarian oppression of free expression, regressive statist economics and climate millenarianism allows the entire Labor/Green policy suite to step over Gillard’s grave unscathed.

The opposition’s end game is no longer to see off Gillard at the next election, but to dramatically change the policy direction of the nation…to by trunk and root dig out Labor/Green policy morbidity and restore our polity to health.

Much as I would love to believe this, Wes, there isn’t a single scrap of evidence to suggest it is anything other than wishful thinking by you and other coalition supporters.

Hey KK, at least the people up your way expressed a desire for change. Here in Wollongong (Cunningham) we have a population of absolute Labor diehards.

Fair dinkum, this seat would be the last to hold out in an otherwise national electoral slaughter of Labor. The member for Cunningham would appoint themselves to Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Treasurer… you get the drift.

“Tony Abbott is, at present, my favourite English-speaking politician (though Canada’s Stephen Harper also has a pretty good claim). He is one of those fortunate men who is at once clever and likeable, a Rhodes Scholar who, when campaigning, speaks in monosyllables (at the 2010 election, which he lost by a single seat, he summarised his programme as ‘stop the [refugee] boats, end big new taxes, stop waste, pay off debt’). For some Lefties, a brilliant man with demotic appeal is a class traitor; their sense of betrayal is compounded by the fact that Abbott is a Roman Catholic who inexcusably refuses to be either Labor or republican. To top it off, the Liberal leader is guilty of what are, in the eyes of Australia’s bien pensant elites, the three unpardonable heresies of our age: he believes in God, opposes eco-taxes and wants to scrap restrictions on free speech….”

In other words he is a genuine conservative which is a good vantage point from which to substitute good policy for the progressive, economy destroying policies this present Gillard government has inflicted and is inflicting on this country.

I think Reaganout is a good term for people who think that if they vote conservative everything will be just fine & dandy because conservatives look out for you. Let’s just forget that Ronnie Raygun shipped guns to the Contras in exchange for drugs which then ‘somehow’ flooded the streets of the USA.

there isn’t a single scrap of evidence to suggest it is anything other than wishful thinking by you and other coalition supporters.

Really?

A Rhodes Scholar steeped in the traditions of western civilisation and Christian values who has vowed to dismantle the Carbon Tax, turn back the boats and publicly condemned government attempts to curb free expression and says no to nationalise broadband infrastructure is…what? Minced meat?

So, yeah, as a political realist I’m going to wishfully vote for Hope and Change next election. Fingers crossed.

Do you really think Tony Abbott is Bob Brown by another name?

I hear this song all over the intertubes nowadays. A rising global chorus all singing the same refrain…. Democracy is a fraud!

It’s the rallying cry of the Occupiers, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. Marxists have always preached it. So has every variety of national socialist, luddite, millenarianists, revolutionaries and crime syndicates… From religious fundamentalists to radical leftists and fascists they’re all united in the belief that the silly fools in the middle, the people who work hard, create wealth, pay taxes, aspire to raise their children well… and VOTE…We have all been duped to believe we matter, that we have a voice. Silly, silly us. YOU DIDN’T BUILD THAT!

Worse, a fevered gestalt is spreading that democracy is really a vast global conspiracy, a fraud perpetuated on the middle class punters to give us the illusion of having a say in “The System.” ?

Down that desultory path the fellow travellers mentioned above await for you to create a new world order free from even the illusion of democracy, civil liberties, private property and market-based economies.

Winston Churchill was right… constitutional democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Yes, Tony Abbott has given an undertaking “signed in blood” to dismantle the carbon tax. This promise can be (and will be) easily fulfilled by simply transitioning straight to an ETS with a floor price of $15.00 a tonne upon taking office, rather than waiting until 2015.

An ETS with a floor price of $15.00 a tonne is both the current Labor/Green legislation, and written Liberal Party policy. No conflict there, also, unfortunately, no “dramatic change in the policy direction of the nation”, nor any “digging out of Labor/Green policy”.

.
Yes, Tony Abbott has promised to “turn back the boats” which is typical political rhetoric, since the Indonesians have already indicated they won’t cooperate in any way, meaning very few boats will ever be literally “turned back”.. More to the point, Abbott has stated he will re-introduce the allegedly successful “Pacific Solution”, introduced by Howard.

The so-called “Pacific Solution” was only ever a clever sleight of hand by Howard that eliminated boats landing very publicly at Christmas Island. Instead those people ended up much less publicly at Nauru. However, over 90% of those processed at Nauru STILL ended up in Australia. Typical political solution: – get the story off the front page.

In other words, our borders remain wide open. Hardly a “dramatic change” in policy, nor much of a change from current Labor/Greens results.

.
Yes, Tony Abbott has condemned government attempts to curb free expression. He has made no mention however about reversing (a Liberal) government’s success at introducing the concept of retrospective legislation, nor has he ever mentioned (a Liberal) government’s success at disarming the civilian population.

A disarmed civilian population with the ever-present threat of retrospective legislation hanging over them in reality has NO freedoms, not of expression nor anything else, except at the whim of, and as a privilege granted by, the current government of the day.

Disarmament of the civilian population and the threat of retrospective legislation are the two most powerful tools on the wannabe Fascist Dictator’s wishlist. But that’s alright; Tony Abbott has promised that we will all be able to go on reading Andrew Bolt, so everything is hunky-dory.

That makes him so much different from the Labor/Greens. THEY want us disarmed, at the mercy of threatened by backdated legislation, and banned from reading Andrew Bolt. Abbott only wants us disarmed and at the mercy of back-dated laws. We can read Bolt any time we like.

.
You want me to accept Tony Abbott and the Liberals represent anything other than Tweedle-Dum to the Labor/Greens Tweedle-Dee? Fine. Wake me up when Tony Abbott announces:

1) – The reversal of all laws disarming the civilian population.

2) – A referendum to amend the constitution to prevent the passing of retrospective legislation.

3) – A promise to abandon ALL proposed moves to combat “climate change”.

4) – An undertaking to work with the states to return the education system to education, rather than social engineering.

5) – A guarantee of a Royal Commission along the lines I outlined in comment #47 above.

6) – All of the above written into official Liberal Party policy, available on their website.

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Finally, Wes, it is my sad duty to point out to you that Australia is not, and was never meant to be, a democracy (rule by the mob majority). Ditto for the U.S, Canada, and most of the other countries you would probably describe as “democratic”.

Rule by the mob majority is a vastly different concept to rule by a representative body constrained by a written set of rules – the constitution.

The problems in Australia stem not from “democracy” being some “vast conspiracy”, but rather from the “vast conspiracy” that we live in a democracy.

*…to point out to you that Australia is not, and was never meant to be, a democracy (rule by the mob majority). Ditto for the U.S, Canada, and most of the other countries you would probably describe as “democratic”.

Rule by the mob majority is a vastly different concept to rule by a representative body constrained by a written set of rules – the constitution.

Is very important!

History shows that mob rule ends badly. The constitution and sister Bill of Rights is what PROTECTS the individual FROM the mob.

A very good point that people need to hear more often and understand more clearly.

I might also add that here in the US, from my observations, it is the Democrat Left that ignore or forget this very important principle.

* I purposely left Wes off of the quote simply because I jumped into your discussion without reading Wes first. This done for the purpose of reiterating the above quote and the importance of it.

Unfortunately the conservative side of the aisle has been much too often willing to forget the constraints the Constitution should have put on them.

No matter the form of government, if you have the right to vote then you bear the responsibility for things gone wrong. The buck stops with you, the voter, all alone in the voting booth on Election Day. You can’t pass it to anyone else.

You want me to accept Tony Abbott and the Liberals represent anything other than Tweedle-Dum to the Labor/Greens Tweedle-Dee? Fine.

Uh? Yeah, I do.

Dude, it’s always in vogue to be drolly uninspired by politicians. But that platitude seems a bit ironic just now as we are about to live through one of the greatest examples in Australian history of democracy in motion, whenever the the next election is called.

My concern is that by painting the national political discourse as a debate between Tweedle Dum and Dee you’ve unwittingly been assimilated by the collective already.

You’ve just regurgitated the mantric centrepiece of our neo-Marxist academic and media elite who for a century have preached that democratic choice is an illusion…Carl Marx is where the platitude that all elites represent the same class values comes from. Therefore, Tony Abbott = Bob Brown.

If you believe that our constitutional democracy offers only a (non)choice between a Janus-faced elite, then it’s rational to conclude it must be so by collusion and the only rational solution is to advocate Revolution, ie the violent overthrow of the established system.

Fortunately, the Marxists among us have thought the implication of revolution through quite throughly, so they understand that after any violent revolution must come a dictatorship by a fanatical core of intellectually pure cadre who ruthlessly purge all dissent and redistribute property to those who swear allegiance to the revolutionaries. After that, work can begin on building the perfect utopian society on top of the smouldering ruins of the old…although a ruthless dictatorship to quell dissent will have to be maintained until a perfect utopian society is securely established.

In contrast to Revolution, a constitutional democracy ruled by law is designed to drip-feed evolutionary change into a society based loosely on a consensus of what is possible to achieve at the moment haggled out piece meal, often in fairly sleazy deals between tweedle dees and dums. Dramatic and rapid change is difficult to achieve even under ideal conditions.

How boringly inefficient is that?

You can see why revolution, over evolution, is as appealing to the cluelessly quixotic far right as it is to the bloody-minded left. Neither minority is willing to compromise its ideological pure program enough to get through the muddle of parliamentary process.

Perhaps I speak for the vast middle muddlers when I pray…May we live in uninteresting times!

Just on your first paragraph Wes…. “Why should we care?”…. Well we should root out any corruption in our system where ever we find it… But Labor supporters should really care. Because it is their skillbase that is being eroded by corrupt representatives. The ideology of workers having good pay and conditions is a just and valid one… The Labor Party was supposed to represent the workers… It is the hubris of the Socialists who think that workers rights equals socialism.

Time for Labor voters to understand their ideology and the philosophies of freedom which is integral within the Western ideal of democracy.

I’d like to know if these Union members are even allowed or are being given a voice….? Now there’s a story for a Journo. Go and interview some HSU and AWU members….Interview swags of them and see what they’re saying.

This has been JG’s silent dread for a long time, and puts the Canberra press pack in a funny spot. They were always in denial, so what do they do. Correct to say it’s ancient stuff on one hand. I’m tipping most of them will stay out of it, or just remain the coy bystander. It’s someone elses scoop after all.

I can see no good reason why the Opposition needs to become involved in the developing scandal that is all about the union movement and their political party, their prime minister and her comrades. After all their are a few professional journalists investigating and reporting their findings, and apparently there are now many insiders blowing whistles. You know that if Tony Abbott joined in the hunt he would be made the target, as usual. No doubt the Opposition will keep its powder dry as the scandal unfolds and then have much to say, hopefully when in government announcing a Royal Commission into the union movement.

The mainstream media in Australia is a toothless dog that dares not even mention this scandal in a way that British newspapers love to expose such scandals on their front pages.

All I can say is enough is enough… we only have to wait until next year’s general election to give Julia Gillard and her team their very own “Anna Bligh moment” whereupon a Coalition government can then have a thorough investigation into the scandal and press charges where charges are due and have the culprits tried in Court. If that sees Gillard ending up in jail, so be it.

I believe the reason for this is the matter of broadcasting licences which the government uses to threaten the current holders. So you’re right, nothing will happen in the media until:-
1. They smell blood in the water.
2. They believe it’s safe to come in for the kill.

If I was a labor strategist, the scenario would be to boot Julia, dump the toxic carbon tax, embrace “emerging factual science” such as that put forward by Murry Salby in his latest Sydney (August 2012) climate presentation.

Dump the greens and not give them any preference deal at all.

Rediscover and affirm variability in weather, pick a replacement leader who carries no baggage from the former policies, a leader who presents as a strong no-nonsense leader who can rebuild the labor brand from their heartland.

There is a lot of voter angst out there, but a radical change of heart and direction could avert a disaster at the polls, and capitalize on a lingering doubt as to the ability of Abbott to win over the vote on his own without having to contrive a scungy deal with the greens on preferences.

For a conservative strategy to counter such a labor leadership change, I would be looking at strong leadership that can speak to Mr and Mrs average Australian voter that comes over as a plain dealing leader with no past deceptive baggage or issues.

Malcolm Turnbull would be a disaster and a future slave I suspect to a growing green vote that tendency would eventually consume the conservative side exactly the way the greens have crippled the labour vote.

There are some quality Liberals such as George Brandis who I rate quite highly although he is in the senate so can’t be PM unless he moves down to the House of Reps. One of the others is Josh Frydenberg who is very articulate. Obviously many of us would like Dr Dennis Jensen to be one of the senior ministers but I am not sure if that would happen. The main problem with Abbott is that he is not the best public speaker. Otherwise, I think he will do a good job as PM.

A question that I have been wanting to ask Jo for a little while is, have your views on many other political issues (not including CAGW) changed since you became a sceptic and since you left the Greens Party?

We’ve had plenty of good speakers in this country – they’ve just been crap at doing anything useful! Think of Bob Hawkes (No Australian child will live in poverty by…) or Kevin (trust me) Rudd’s “Greatest moral challenge…

Abbot is a doer. We need someone like him. The talkers are driving this country backwards.

Brandis is a bleeding heart isn’t he? The little twit Frydenburg, as near as I can tell is responsible for the security paranoia and bull in aviation, marine and land transport activities.
Please give us a break.

the hypocritical & despicable CAGW-promoting UN and BBC refuse to acknowledge their own role, or name the EPA as the law-maker, in this all-too-predictible disaster. for the poor everywhere, for whom high food prices can mean the difference between life and death, it is unconscionable:

10 Aug: BBC: US biofuel production should be suspended, UN says
Under US law, 40% of the corn harvest must be used to make biofuel, a quota which the UN says could contribute to a food crisis around the world…
But the US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the biofuels standard was having a positive impact on the country.
“It is impacting in a positive way the cost of gasoline in this country – some estimates put it at 25 cents to as much as $1.30 less for gas because we have a biofuel industry.
“There are jobs connected to that industry and less reliance on foreign oil. The question is: Is the market responding to concerns about supply and the answer is yes…
By law, 13 billion gallons of biofuel must be produced in the US this year. The country’s Renewable Fuel Standard, as the law is known, was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on imported oil. It has long been controversial, with many blaming the quota for pushing up corn prices.
The United Nations is not alone in calling for the quota to be suspended. Livestock producers in the US, worried about the cost of cattle feed, also want it scrapped and the governments of China, India and France have expressed concerns about the policy.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19206199

just as africans from all over the world are once again celebrating their positive contribution and remarkable success at the olympics, we have this totally cynical PR event and the Guardian can’t even mention that they have been at the forefront of promoting CAGW-biofuels which, in part, have caused some of the hunger:

10 Aug: Guardian: Global Development Section (Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation): Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah to join David Cameron at hunger summit
Plan to capitalise on Olympic legacy as athlete joins other sports heroes to raise awareness of the plight of malnourished children
by Patrick Wintour
David Beckham, a Unicef ambassador, has already been to Downing Street to discuss the plight of the young malnourished.
***Although it is not a pledge-making summit in terms of donors, the government sees the meeting as a way to provide an international legacy of the Games and send a signal that Cameron wants to make malnourishment a big issue in the lead-up into the British presidency of the G8 next year – the first time Britain has held the presidency since Tony Blair’s ground-breaking aid-pledging G8 Summit in Gleneagles in 2005…
***The event will be attended by officials from the US agriculture department on Friday, who will talk about how the worst drought in 60 years in the US mid-west is pushing up global food prices and increasing hunger in Africa. Wheat prices rose by 19% on international markets in July alone…
The charity Oxfam warned ahead of the summit that rising global food prices could pile more pressure on an overstretched humanitarian system, which is already struggling to cope with food crises in the Sahel region of West Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Yemen…http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/10/olympics-mo-farah-gold-hunger-summit?newsfeed=true

But, of course, the Guardian, while properly sceptical of the Hunger Summit, manages to blame “climate change” – once known as CAGW – for the problem! shame on the MSM.

10 Aug: Guardian Editorial: Hunger summit: think small
When tackling malnutrition involves photo-opportunities with icons such as Mo Farah and David Beckham, it’s hard not to be sceptical
There is no question that there are more hungry people than ever before, nor that chronic malnutrition is devastating…
It reflects an intransigent mix of economic, social and cultural factors – family size and access to contraception, ***climate change, poor farming techniques, bad food as well as not enough of it, and limited access to productive land…
Underlying it all is an unfair distribution system that pays dividends for speculators – the grain trader Cargill announced revenues of $134bn this week – while the system remains unable to deliver food to those who need it…http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/10/hunger-summit-think-small

there was a time when the MSM would barely give a column inch to Greenpeace, now they seem to have the biggest megaphone in the country:

12 Aug: SMH: AAP: Daniel Fogarty: Greenpeace head urges climate consensus
Australia faces serious trouble from climate change unless our politicians can reach consensus on the issue and lead the global fight to reduce emissions, the new CEO of Greenpeace says.
David Ritter has urged Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to rethink his promise to repeal the carbon tax if he becomes prime minister, and says Australia must follow its tradition of punching above its weight when it comes to finding solutions to climate change.
Tackling climate change must also involve Australia exerting diplomatic pressure on other nations, he says.
Perth-born Mr Ritter has returned to Australia after five years working for Greenpeace in the UK, to take up the position as CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
The former commercial lawyer first developed a passion for native title issues before turning his focus to the environment…
(Ritter on the UK): There the tone of debate on climate change is “very, very different”, with a push for action from all major political parties, he says.
As leader of the opposition, now British Prime Minister David Cameron once launched a policy from the Greenpeace warehouse…http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/greenpeace-head-urges-climate-consensus-20120812-242en.html

JG has always preferred zero engagement on this and to insist she has done no wrong. Anything else will only draw further attention to it so I don’t think she will do much. Shorten will be packing his dacks. She’s already had it but for him it could be terminal before he even gets a crack.

This might help explain Wayne Swan’s self promotion lately. Remembering that there are those in caucus pushing it as well, could it be that he anticipates that her head might roll soon over it? He wouldn’t challenge, but he might take the handpass.

12 Aug: News.com.au: AAP: UN chief launches oceans project
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday the initiative, called the Oceans Compact, sets out a strategic vision for the UN system to work more effectively to tackle the “precarious state” of the world’s seas.
Ban highlighted the “grave threat” from pollution, excessive fishing and global warming.
“Our oceans are heating and expanding,” he said in a speech to a conference marking the 30th anniversary of the opening for signature of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“We risk irrevocable changes in processes that we barely comprehend, such as the great currents that affect weather patterns…http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/un-chief-launches-oceans-project/story-e6frfkui-1226448640422

just another power grab requiring a massive and highly-paid bureaucracy:

12 Aug: AFP: Jung Ha-Won: UN chief launches new initiative to protect oceans
Ban highlighted the “grave threat” from pollution, excessive fishing and global warming.
“Our oceans are heating and expanding,” he said in a speech to a conference marking the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“We risk irrevocable changes in processes that we barely comprehend, such as the great currents that affect weather patterns.
“Ocean acidification (from absorbed carbon emissions) is eating into the very basis of our ocean life; and sea level rise threatens to re-draw the global map at the expense of hundreds of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.”…
Ban said the Compact was aimed at “improving the health of the oceans” and strengthening their management through an action plan to be overseen by a high-level advisory group.
This would be made up of senior policymakers, scientists and ocean experts, representatives from the private sector and civil society and leaders of the UN organisations involved…
The United States is the only major power not to have signed the convention. Republicans in the Senate contend it would undermine US sovereignty and are blocking ratification…
The Compact calls for renewed efforts to curb illegal fishing, rebuild fish stocks and halt the spread of invasive alien species.
By 2020, it says, at least 10 percent of coastal and marine areas should be subject to conservation measures.http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i5FpMwyyoShxsJmvJ3wJmvyvyeCA?docId=CNG.3f1e63b344756848b60ac2368815f6af.601

Well she can join the ranks with Obama (Real name Barry Sotoro, born in Kenya raised in Indonesia and who’s mother was with the CIA..) who is fraud a Wall St patsy and dupe, warmonger and democrat neo-con in disguise, fascist and anti-contitutionalist. Hope they both get the ‘chop’. Hmm 1776 and 1789 ring a bell?

To those of you insisting that Mr Abbott should take up this issue, you obviously have short political memories. The one issue that destroyed Malcolm Turnbull’s credibility as Opposition Leader was the Godwin Grech affair. Lord Wentworth did not have the patience and political acumen to stay at arm’s length from Grech, so when Grech was discredited, so was Turnbull, leading to the discontent that saw a leadership spill. Abbott can afford to wait for the AWU/Wilson scandal to slowly ripen- given the glacial rate at which the Thomson and Slipper affairs are progressing, the best he can hope for before an election is for Gillard to step down as PM. However Windsor, Oakeshott and Wilkie have already rubber-stamped the lies and corruption already proven; they won’t cut short the duration of this Parliament (and the period of their power and influence) for anything. I expect we could find Ms Gillard standing over a bloody corpse, knife in hand in a room locked from the inside and they’d still bleat “presumption of innocence” and continue to guarantee supply. With that in mind, Mr Abbott’s most prudent strategy is to wait and let events take their course.

I can only hope for Australia’s sake that this is all a pack of lies. Anyone who is as corrupt as these “revelations” portray would never act in the best interests of anyone but themselves. A Prime Minister has to be the servant of the people, and the person portrayed here is servant to no one.

Labour have demonstrated that they do not have the nations interest at heart. Which in the mind of the people, simply add to the evidence of their crookedness.

We’ve been complaining for years that all politicians lie and cheet. Only someone with an overactive ego would want to be in politics. Well how much of a leep of logic is it to believe they are fundamentaly criminaly minded.

I have a question about a hypothetical situation for those who know the law.

If a parliamentarian breaches a law of the land, that is one thing, but what if they were to use state or commonwealth resources to hide their breach of law? e.g. Attorney-Generals department (or the AG in person), public service publications or advice.

This could also be viewed as using taxpayers money to hide a breach of the law.

Does such a secondary deception or subterfuge in turn breach any other laws? If so, what are they?

I do not fully understand the differences between the Australian system and those of Whitehall or Wellington, but given that they are all base on the same root, I will probably not be far off the mark.

There is a distinction between Parliament and Government, which is important in terms of the separation of duties.

Parliamentarians are paid a salary and some allowances, but outside of their pay, have no discretionary spending. Political parties, usually get some funding from the public purse to support their staff, and other administrative expenses. Of course political parties also receive funding from public and corporate donations, but these are usually related to the electioneering “war chest”.

Government Ministers are there to set the policy for the agencies they oversee, and the often have a staff to assist them with that, this often consists of a “private secretary” appointed by the Minister, plus a number of public servants appointed by the Cabinet Office, or equivalent. The role of the Minister is one of oversight and governance, so the Minister does not sign-off on any expenditure, that is the role of the Head of the Agency, and is often delegated to other senior managers. In this regard the Prime Minister is no different to other Ministers. The Cabinet jointly signs-off on all policy initiatives.

Now, as politicians, Ministers may have access to party funding, but that is not public money. As Ministers in Government, they have little or no access to Agency funds, which is the public money.

This is the principle of checks and balances. However, there is the issue of support and favours.

“Favours” may be bestowed on people who have proven “useful”, in the form of a commendation in regard to the person being appointed to one lucrative position or another.

For example, being appointed as a Judge in a Superior Court, results in the appointee receiving a high salary for life. But of course, such appointments are always made on the basis of merit and seniority, with any strong commendations from the Prime Minister being taken into consideration.

Thanks Rereke. We are contemplating something less subtle. Where a minister of the crown directs the resources of his/her ministry to support or hide unlawful behaviour.
That was the hypothetical question I was asking.

Yes, I realised that. But I but tried to give the wider context to demonstrate that the Minister, on his or her own, would find it difficult thing to do.

They don’t have direct access to the cash, so would need the agreement of the Agency Chief Executive, and also probably the Finance Manager, not to mention the collusion of the Auditor General’s office.

What they can do, and sometimes have been known to do, is to “be indiscreet” retarding future policy, in a way that just might allow somebody to make an investment that they would not otherwise have made, and thereby turn a tidy profit. That person might then feel indebted to the Minister, so when the Minister mentions that he or she wishes that “somebody” would do something about “somebody else”, it just miraculously occurs.

Such circumstances do not involve the Public Servants. And even though they may have some suspicions that their Minister is a bit bent, they would find it difficult to gather sufficient evidence to blow the whistle.

Youre right on the money! Gillards commie friends introduced the radical policies to ALP. You have to know how the commies think, They know that no one will wote for them so they are focusing on getting influence from positions with power within media state byroucracy and universitys.
That way they get great influence ower political policies and the carbon tax is a veryy powerful tool for them to occupie and get thier people inside the state byroucracy permanently out of reach for the voters getting inside the democracy through the back door ligitimized b thier commie friend within ABC and MSM. The only way to get them out is to kill the radical policies because that will kill thier jobs and take away thier goal to exploit the people of AU.[And you have proof of all this, do you? Care to give us your sources? Or do I treat you like a troll? -Fly]

In response to the original post of this thread: To commence any form of legal action against those speaking on the matter of:

Gillard’s involvement and financial gain from the client accounts she established contrary to union rules as a partner in Slater & Gordon, the law firm the AWU engaged to protect its interests.

In the event that Gillard et al commenced a legal action under the uniform defamation laws. Any legal action commenced by Gillard et al would necessitate discovery in response.

*Gillard etc al would have to make the case that there was no truth to the allegations made. Clearly there IS truth- public records including the Victorian Government Hansard, police records, the call for a Royal Commission by McClelland (ALP) as well as the many affadavits and various other police and public statements evidence ample proof of Gillard’s involvement and demonstrate that there IS truth. Gillard herself and Slater and Gordon have indicated there is truth to the allegations.Gillard’s only defence has been the ‘young and naive’ defence.Given Gillard was a 35 year old + politically astute lawyer and partner in her client’s law firm, Slater & Gordon, makes such a claim a nonesense.

*Gillard et al could possibly argue the matters are not in the public interest. However, this would hold little water for a public figure. The High Court’s Lange case established the latter.

So what exactly would Gillard et al’s legal claim be against those printing and commenting on the allegations of illegal dealings? Would it be in Gillard’s self-interest to start and action which would immediately result in full discovery in a public trial of all documents on this matter? The challenge has been sent out by various media and publications now for that very reason – action against those publications/media would ensure their immediate commencement of court ordered discovery of all documentation pertaining to the allegations.

Brilliant post, Jo. Pity you couldn’t sticky it to top place for awhile. This should be read far and wide. Maybe you could write a follow up or two? Keep it top billing. Besides, enquiring minds want to know.

1. Pickering is a bankrupt – not allowed an opinion! Right!
2. OVA the scientist who is not bankrupt is allowed an opinion and wants to cover the Great barrier Reef with shadecloth!! Right!
3. Sacked BlueScope Port Kembla worker bankrupted and loses everthing is not allowed an opinion! Right!
4. Catamon on the gravy CAGW gravy train allowed an opinion!

In these days of cut and paste journalism, where WWF, Geenpeace and the climate institute just pass press releases off to their favourite journalist press agents and have them printed unchecked by our their ABC and Fairfax fakefacts. A true investigative journalist gets shown the door and editors fold under pressure from he PM’s office.